


A Tempest of Ink and Scars

by jennserr



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Cora ain't straight, Cora is a marshmallow, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Morning After, References to Mild Time Travel, Romance, SAM is the best worst wingman, Scars, Tattoos, it'll make sense trust me, this kinda got away from me oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-02-27 11:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13247664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennserr/pseuds/jennserr
Summary: Lazy mornings in the Pathfinder's quarters are something to be cherished.update 11/25:the longfic this scene is based in,The Tempest - Initiation, is now live!





	A Tempest of Ink and Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Eventually I'll write some other ships that don't involve Cora, I swear. Really.
> 
> So I'll admit this was a bit of an experiment for me, both in the writing itself and also as a sort of test. This originally started out as an AU inspired by the play _The Tempest_ that featured a lot of magical weirdness and time travel shenanigans, and it's kinda morphed into a slightly easier to swallow longfic (where the only magic is biotics) that I've been working on for the past few weeks. I have no idea when I'll be ready to post that, or if I ever will, but depending on how well this does, you might see it in the near future, though there'll likely be changes from what you see here so that it better fits the narrative.

The first thing Leah felt when she woke up was an overwhelming and all-consuming sense of contentment—the most at peace she had ever felt in her 24 (824, but that’s just a technicality) years of life.

The second thing she felt were light fingers dancing softly over the skin of her right arm, and the sleepy smile on her face grew. Not yet deigning to open her eyes and face the day, she merely hummed in quiet enjoyment, savouring the touch of the woman sharing her bed.

“I was wondering when you’d wake,” Cora Harper murmured from behind her. The fingers tracing the ink on Leah’s bicep stilled, then moved to wrap around the front of the woman it belonged to. Warm, soft lips pressed gently against the join of the Pathfinder’s neck and shoulder, and Leah sighed, melting into the touch.

“Mm, if I’d known this would be waiting for me, I would have gotten up sooner,” she replied. Okay, that was probably a lie—she would have slept in regardless, though especially so given the night she’d had. If Leah was being honest with herself, that had been the deepest, soundest sleep she’d had since before going into cryo all those centuries ago. SAM could put her to sleep at her request, of course, but the last time she’d tried that it hadn’t worked out as well as she’d hoped.

Another kiss, closer to her ear this time. “Yes, but where’s the fun in that?” The hand around her middle withdrew, then resumed its previous pattern circling the tattoo on her arm. “You never told me when you got this,” Cora said.

“June 26, 2015. The day same-sex marriage was legalized in America. I wanted to go out and have a night on the town, but Luke wanted something more permanent to remember the day.” Leah smiled to herself at the memory. “We still ended up getting shit-faced, of course. Probably not the best idea at the time, but the night was definitely memorable, to say the least.”

Cora chuckled. “You can’t just say that and not tell me what happened.”

“I can and I will, Harper.”

The Lieutenant sighed. She knew a lost cause when she saw one. So instead of pursuing it, she wound her fingers up to the middle of Leah’s shoulder blade. “And this?”

This time, the younger (technically older, but Cora didn’t count by birth years) woman made a sound somewhere between a giggle and a snort, and her shoulders shook. “That, uh, that one I, um, got because of a game.”

One elegant blonde eyebrow raises. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t call it _bad_ or anything, but it’s kinda embarrassing.”

“It’s just a butterfly, right? What’s embarrassing about that?”

Leah took a deep breath to try and steady herself. It only partially worked. “I uh, originally got it as a reminder—that every action, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has a consequence.” She paused. “Also, it was a really gay game, and I kinda had a thing for the sidekick.” Leah paused in thought, then opened her eyes for the first time that morning and turned slightly to face her second-in-command. “Come to think of it, she was a lot like Peebee. Tragic backstory, abandonment and commitment issues, a penchant for leather and the colour blue…”

“Careful Riley, you could make a girl jealous.” Still, Cora grinned down at her.

“You know there’s only one woman in the universe for me.” Leah gave Cora her most winning smile and batted her eyelashes in a manner that was most decidedly too endearing for the blonde to resist.

“Goddess, you’re ridiculous.”

“And yet you still put up with me,” the Pathfinder countered as she reached up to slide her right hand behind the Lieutenant’s head, slowly pulling her down for a lazy kiss, one which was eagerly reciprocated. Soft, full lips moved languorously against her own, both women basking in the others presence.

To Leah, it was home.

Eventually, Cora pulled away, though with obvious great reluctance. Golden eyes smiled warmly down into piercing blue ones.

“I could get used to this,” Leah sighed. And she could. Waking up next to someone she… ’loved’ was a little strong, but it was on the right track, and greeting each day with a smile, a kiss, a warm body beside her…

Leah turned to fully face Cora and snuggled further into her warm embrace, a contented grin breaking out across her face. “Volunteering for that cryo experiment may just be the second best thing to ever happen to me,” she mumbled into the Lieutenant’s collarbone.

She could hear the smile in Cora’s voice when she replied, “Second best, hm? And what would the first be?”

“Kissing you back last night.” To emphasize the point, the Pathfinder placed a slow string of lazy kisses up Cora’s collarbone, neck, and jaw. “Letting myself finally feel for you what I’d been denying for so long. Far too long.”

Strong arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her ever closer as a toned leg draped itself over hers. Fingers began wandering her back again, tracing soothing circles into the soft skin there.

“How long?”

Blue eyes met gold. “Since I first laid eyes on you.”

“I can confirm, Lieutenant Harper,” SAM’s disembodied voice spoke from seemingly everywhere at once. “Leah’s body responded to your appearance in a manner consistent with—”

Leah’s cheeks flushed. “Ohh-kayy, SAM, that’s quite enough out of you.”

“No no,” Cora grinned, “I want to hear this.”

“Furthermore,” the AI continued, oblivious to the Pathfinder’s request, “her reaction intensified when she first heard your voice.”

Leah buried her face in Cora’s shoulder. “Kill. Me. Now.”

The blonde woman laughed at her friend’s mortification. “Well, I guess that explains why you looked so uncomfortable then. And here I’d thought you just didn’t want to be anywhere near me.”

“Thanks SAM, you’re a real pal.”

“There is also the time when she first saw you use your biotics, Lieutenant. I believe the phrase she used was, to quote, ‘I want her to destroy me.’”

Cora’s peels of laughter continued as Leah rolled away from her and hissed, “So help me, SAM, I will unplug you if you so much as _think_ another word of this.”

If the AI had had a mouth, it would have been smirking. “That would be unwise, Pathfinder, as doing so would negatively affect you. I am, after all, deeply integrated with you.”

“Remind me why I put up with you again?”

“My ability to help you in your endeavors is certainly one of them, although you did not appear to require any ‘Pathfinding’ assistance from me last night.”

Leah buried her face in her pillow and groaned while Cora’s laughter turned into full on guffaws. Her laughter did eventually die down after a time, but Leah could still feel her shaking with mirth. “What did I do to deserve this?” she asked, her question muffled against the pillow.

“You were yourself,” Cora said simply, as if that answered everything. Her fingers once again resumed their wandering of her (lover? girlfriend? commanding officer? they’d need to talk about it eventually) partner’s back. This time, they traced the large outline that spanned much of Leah’s back, centred around a lighter-coloured patch of skin that ran along her spine.

“What about this one?”

She flinched slightly as Cora brushed over the scar on her back. “What about it?”

“What’s the significance of the… it’s an old-fashioned fighter plane, right?”

Leah propped herself up on her forearms and glanced over at the Lieutenant. “Old-fashioned to you maybe, but that was the single most advanced combat jet that the Air Force had then. The F-35 was the first fixed-wing piloted aircraft with VTOL capabilities, even if it was incredibly expensive.” She sombered and looked down. “I ran special tactics squads for our airbase. Search and rescue, coordinating air strikes, ops I could do in my sleep. Just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that day.”

“You don’t have to,” Cora murmured. Her hand had reached up Leah’s back to gently massage her neck.

She shook her head, then slowly lowered herself back down to the bed, where she folded her arms beneath her chin. “Any hope of making Major was crushed like my spine and the truck I was riding in.” Leah paused and drew in a shaky breath. Revisiting those memories was never easy for her, no matter how much time passed. “I was on my feet a few weeks later, but by then I’d been given a general discharge. Luke was actually the one who convinced me to get the tat. Said it’d make the scar look badass. Turn painful memories into art, or something like that.”

“Your brother seemed to have quite the influence over your decisions.” Cora’s tone was solemn, though somehow teasing. It earned a weak laugh from Leah.

“You could say that. He was actually the one to get me to take part in the cryo experiment with him, believe it or not.”

“You’re joking.”

Leah raised her head and met Cora’s incredulous gaze with a half-smile.

Cora laughed, then bent down to press a kiss to the middle of the scar. “You, are _such_ a pushover.”

Leah squirmed as Cora kissed her way up her spine. “Says the Queen Marshmallow herself.”

“Only for you, _Pathfinder_ ,” she murmured near Leah’s ear, earning a gasp when she nibbled the earlobe. It was only then that Leah realized her second had moved to straddle her thighs and was now running her hands along her shoulders in a far more sensual way than could be considered a simple massage.

Leah hummed. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, Harper.”

“I don’t intend to.”

Soft lips pressed into the nape of Leah’s neck, followed by the light graze of teeth. Leah shivered under her ministrations and let out a faint moan, and oh, yes, she thought to herself, she could definitely get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, both this work itself and if you want any more where this came from.


End file.
